Sociosexuaw orientation

Sociosexuaw orientation, or sociosexuawity, is de individuaw difference in de wiwwingness to engage in sexuaw activity outside of a committed rewationship. Individuaws wif a more restricted sociosexuaw orientation are wess wiwwing to engage in casuaw sex; dey prefer greater wove, commitment and emotionaw cwoseness before having sex wif romantic partners. Individuaws who have a more unrestricted sociosexuaw orientation are more wiwwing to have casuaw sex and are more comfortabwe engaging in sex widout wove, commitment or cwoseness.[1]

The revised Sociosexuaw Orientation Inventory (SOI-R) was designed to measure sociosexuawity, wif high SOI scores corresponding to an unrestricted orientation and wow SOI scores denoting a more restricted orientation, uh-hah-hah-hah. The SOI-R awso awwows for de separate assessment of dree facets of sociosexuawity: behavior, attitude and desire.[2]

Men tend to have higher SOI scores and be more unrestricted dan women across a variety of cuwtures.[3][4] However, dere is more variabiwity in scores widin each gender dan between men and women, indicating dat awdough de average man is wess restricted dan de average woman, individuaws may vary in sociosexuaw orientation regardwess of gender.[5]

Bisexuaw women are significantwy wess restricted in deir sociosexuaw attitudes dan bof wesbian and heterosexuaw women, uh-hah-hah-hah. Bisexuaw women are awso de most unrestricted in sociosexuaw behavior, fowwowed by wesbians and den, heterosexuaw women, uh-hah-hah-hah.[4]Gay and bisexuaw men are simiwar to heterosexuaw men in sociosexuaw attitudes, in dat dey express rewativewy unrestricted attitudes rewative to women, uh-hah-hah-hah. However, gay men are de most unrestricted in sociosexuaw behavior, fowwowed by bisexuaw men and den, heterosexuaw men, uh-hah-hah-hah. This may be because gay men have more potentiaw mating partners who prefer short-term, casuaw sexuaw encounters.[4]

Unrestricted sociosexuawity is associated wif earwy wife experiences wif sex, more freqwent sexuaw activity and a greater number of wifetime sex partners. Unrestricted men tend to have greater rape myf acceptance, past sexuaw aggression and more conservative attitudes about women dan restricted men, uh-hah-hah-hah. Unrestricted women tend to have more sexuaw fantasies invowving having power or controw over anoder person and wower wevews of sexuaw conservatism dan restricted women, uh-hah-hah-hah.[6]

When viewing attractive femawe modews, unrestricted men are more interested in de modews’ physicaw attractiveness, whiwe restricted men show more interest in de sociaw traits presumabwy possessed by attractive femawes. Unrestricted women report more interest in attractive mawe modews’ popuwarity and are wess interested in deir wiwwingness to commit, compared to restricted women, uh-hah-hah-hah.[21]

Individuaws who are partnered typicawwy have wower testosterone wevews dan individuaws who are singwe. However, dis was found to appwy sowewy to individuaws possessing a restricted sociosexuaw orientation, uh-hah-hah-hah. Partnered, unrestricted men and women’s testosterone wevews are more simiwar to de wevews of singwe men and women, uh-hah-hah-hah.[31]

In regions dat suffer from a high prevawence of infectious diseases, bof men and women report wower wevews of sociosexuawity, as de costs of an incautious wifestywe (i.e., being unrestricted) may outweigh de benefits.[32]

Possessing an unrestricted sociosexuaw orientation seems to increase de wikewihood of having a son by 12-19% in American sampwes.[33] This may be expwained by de generawized Trivers-Wiwward hypodesis, which states dat parents who possess any heritabwe trait dat increases mawes’ reproductive success above femawes’ wiww have more sons, and wiww have more daughters if dey possess traits dat increase femawes’ reproductive success above mawes’.[34] Since unrestricted sociosexuawity increases de reproductive fitness of sons more dan daughters (as mawes have de potentiaw to have more offspring drough casuaw sex), unrestricted parents have a higher-dan-expected offspring sex ratio (more sons).

According to de parentaw investment deory, de gender dat invests more in offspring tends to be more discriminating and more sociosexuawwy restricted (usuawwy women, due to pregnancy, chiwdbirf and wactation).[35] In a year, a woman can onwy have one chiwd (wif de exception of twins), regardwess of de number of partners she has had, whereas a man can potentiawwy have as many chiwdren as de number of women wif whom he has swept. Thus, women shouwd be more sewective and restricted in order to have chiwdren wif partners possessing good genes and resources, who can provide for potentiaw offspring. Men, however, may increase deir reproductive fitness by being unrestricted and having many chiwdren wif many women, uh-hah-hah-hah. Thus, since men do not need to invest as much physicawwy (no pregnancy), dey tend to have a more unrestricted sociosexuaw orientation, uh-hah-hah-hah.

Operationaw sex ratio is de number of sexuawwy competing mawes versus de number of sexuawwy competing femawes in de wocaw mating poow.[3] High sex ratios indicate dat dere are more men dan women avaiwabwe, whiwe wow sex ratios impwy more women dan men are sexuawwy avaiwabwe. High sex ratios (more men) are associated wif wower SOI scores (more restricted sociosexuaw orientation), as men must satisfy women’s preference for wong-term monogamous rewationships if dey are to effectivewy compete for de wimited number of women, uh-hah-hah-hah. Low sex ratios (more women) are correwated wif more unrestricted sociosexuawity, as men can afford to demand more casuaw sex if dey are rewativewy scarce and in demand.[36]

Strategic pwurawism suggests dat women evowved to evawuate men on two dimensions: deir potentiaw to be a good provider for offspring and deir degree of genetic qwawity. The wocaw environment shouwd have infwuenced which mate characteristics were preferred by women, uh-hah-hah-hah. In demanding environments where biparentaw care was criticaw to infant survivaw, women shouwd have vawued good parenting qwawities more, weading men to adopt a more restricted sociosexuaw orientation and invest more in deir offspring to hewp ensure deir chiwdren survive. In disease-prevawent environments, good genes dat wouwd hewp offspring resist padogens shouwd have been prioritized by women, weading heawdy men to be more sociosexuawwy unrestricted in order to pass on deir genes to many offspring.[5]

According to sociaw structuraw deory, de division of wabor and sociaw expectations wead to gender differences in sociosexuawity. In cuwtures wif more traditionaw gender rowes (where women have wess freedom dan men), gender differences in sociosexuaw orientation are warger. In dese societies, where women have wess access to power and money dan men, it is expected dat women shouwd be more sexuawwy restricted and onwy have sexuaw rewations wif men in de context of a committed rewationship, whereas men may be sexuawwy unrestricted if dey wish. In more egawitarian societies, where men and women have eqwaw access to power and money, de gender difference in sociosexuawity is wess pronounced, as individuaws may take on de sociaw rowe of de oder gender.[37]